MAN COLLAPSES, DIES AT BORDER INSPECTION

Robert Mercado, 51, of San Diego, was one of 36 people arrested last year as part of an investigation into Mexican Mafia crime. The probe was led by the FBI’s Violent Crime Task Force Gang Group.

Mercado pleaded guilty to violent crime in aid of racketeering. The crimes included a stabbing, drug trafficking and extortion.

As of Friday, 30 of the 36 defendants have been convicted, federal officials said in a statement.

The Mexican Mafia controls drug dealing, extortion and other crimes of Latino street gangs in San Diego and elsewhere in Southern California.

The task force includes investigators from the FBI, U.S. Bureau of Prisons, and police departments in San Diego, Chula Vista and National City.

Susan Shroder • U-T

Fire heavily damages home in La Jolla

La Jolla

A fire early Sunday displaced five adults and caused heavy damage to a single-family residence on Gravilla Street near Vista del Mar Avenue in La Jolla, according to the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.

The incident was reported shortly after 3:20 a.m. as a roof on fire, and was put out 20 minutes after firefighters arrived. Collaborating in the effort were two battalion chiefs, four engines and two trucks, the report stated.